Commissioners approve DPPD tower

Written by Deb Egenberger
Wednesday, 20 March 2013 18:06

LEXINGTON—It took three appearances before the planning and zoning commission but Dawson Public Power District finally has county approval for a special use permit to construct a 100-foot tower at its sub-station south of Cozad.

Dawson County commissioners authorized the tower following a public hearing during the regular bimonthly board meeting Friday morning.

Ben Mitchell, electrical engineer for DPPD, said the tower would be used to hold a repeater for the company’s primary microwave system, allowing for better communication.

The proposal took three tries before being recommended for approval by the planning and zoning board because the original plan was for a taller tower.

Zoning regulations require enough distance from an adjacent roadway that if the tower were to collapse, it would not hit the highway.

Although shorter, Mitchell said the 100-foot tower would serve DPPD’s purpose.

County board chairman PJ Jacobson asked Mitchell if Dawson County would be allowed to use the tower as well for additional antenna space if needed by the sheriff’s department.

Mitchell said the structure would be strong enough but an agreement would have to be worked out with the company.

In other business, commissioners authorized Jacobson to sign all documents associated with the transfer of ownership to the county of the old grocery store building in Lexington owned by the Community Economic Development Corp.

County attorney Liz Waterman said a glitch in transferring the U.S. Department of Agriculture grant has slowed the process but closing will be possible before March 29.

The additional space will allow the county to discontinue renting the 4M building for the Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services office as well as possibly alleviate some overcrowding in the courthouse.

Kurt Stevens, reporting center coordinator for the District 11 probation office in Lexington, spoke with the board about a need to retain current space allowed in the courthouse and possibly expand.

Commissioner Bill Stewart of Lexington said he had been looking at space in the courthouse and had approached Stevens about a space reduction.

“I thought when we moved HHS and the Extension office out of the courthouse and remodeled, we had taken care of the space issues for years to come,” Stewart said. “Every room is packed full of storage or packed full of people.”

granted, following a public hearing, a Class C liquor license request by LakeShore Bar & Grille at Johnson Lake. New owner Kristyl Hanchera is making improvements to the establishment and Korte Management will be responsible for day-to-day operations. Opening is set for the end of March.

accepted the low net bid of $166,175 from Nebraska Machinery for a new motor grader for the road department. The other bid from Murphy Tractor was $193,000.

accepted the resignation of contract attorneys Jeff Wightman and Ken Harbison, who have worked with public defender Derick Mitchell, who has resigned effective April 1.

authorized public transit director Barb Hollenbeck to submit a grant application for federal and state operating funds for 2013-14. The grant would provide $64,464 in federal funds with $32,232 from both the state and the county.

gave assessor John Moore authority to schedule aerial photographs of farm sites to be done by GIS Workshop in addition to the online map services the company provides. Moore said last time the aerial photos were updated was 1995 and at that time the county picked up between $3 million and $4 million in added land value.

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